The College has designated the six new house communities that will provide permanent home bases for all Dartmouth undergraduates beginning in the fall of 2016.

“This is a great step forward for Dartmouth,” says Dean of the College Rebecca Biron, who is overseeing the transition to the house system. “The house communities are based on the simple premise that successful learning requires strong community bonds. The houses will provide more opportunities for intellectual engagement through social encounters among students, faculty, and staff.”

Delaney Anderson has been hired as the inaugural WISE campus advocate—a new position created through a partnership between the College and WISE, a Lebanon, N.H.-based victims’ advocacy and crisis services organization that serves the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont.

The Community Citizenship Working Group has finalized the text of a new citizenship pledge. A draft of the pledge was posted for comment in May. In accordance with the Working Group’s recommendation, all new students will sign the Citizenship Pledge upon their arrival. The pledge will also be discussed in a variety of student gatherings. The Working Group has now completed its charge.

Professor Rebecca Biron has been appointed dean of the College, Dartmouth’s senior officer responsible for undergraduate academic life, Provost Carolyn Deverannounced today. Biron’s role will include leadership of the College’s new residential house communities and the professors directing the communities.

Biron is a professor of Spanish and comparative literature whose research and teaching focus on Latin American literary and cultural studies, literary theory, gender studies, and Mexican cultural criticism. As dean, she will provide direction on student inclusivity and diversity issues and strategic planning for admissions and financial aid. She assumes the deanship for a four-year term beginning July 1.

“I’m delighted to take on this official role in the effort to better integrate Dartmouth’s educational mission with student life,” says Biron. “At its best, the intellectual community provided by a residential liberal arts college challenges students to grapple with new ideas and perspectives in order to grow as whole people. I’m excited to find new ways to collaborate with students, faculty, and staff as colleagues in learning both in and beyond the classroom.”